AMATEUR HORSE BREAKING IN INDIA 



harnessed to the log, with a man on each side of its head, 

 and led along some smooth — or preferably grassy — road, 

 on which the log will travel with the least friction and 

 noise. 



This process is repeated for two or three days, or more, 

 according to the temperament of the animal, and continued 

 on an ordinary road, till the beast is believed to have 

 become accustomed to the noise and friction of the drag, 

 when the instructor gradually puts his weight on the log, 

 and finally getting on to it, holds on by the pole, and with 

 the reins in his other hand, drives the horse as if it is har- 

 no^sed to a trap. 



After a day or two of this, its preliminary education 

 ijcmg supposed to be completed, the animal is harnessed 

 to a trap, the vehicle usually selected for this purpose 

 being an old, ramshackle conveyance, tied up with rope ; 

 apparently belonging to no one in particular but generally 

 forthcoming when required. 



For the first day or two the horse devotes most of its 

 energies to the demolition of this archaic structure, and 

 often succeeds, but this matters little, for the fragments 

 are soon reunited with rope, and the breaking in process 

 continues, until the animal, though often merely tamed 

 for the time, is supposed to be broken in completely. 



It is not surprising, therefore, that under such a hap- 

 hazard system of training, animals so sensitive as horses 

 ' I lop such vices as bolting and shying, to which 

 ig accidents are due. Of these two equally 

 dangerous vices, the last is most common with Indian 

 horses, trained in the perfunctory manner described, and 

 of which I was once the unfortunate exponent. 



On this occasion I performed an acrobatic feat which 

 few amateurs have equalled, and none, I am sure, have 

 ever surpassed. I was driving with my wife rather fast 

 down a hill, and we were passing the station cemetery, 

 when some irresponsible idiot of a coolie working there 



w a huge cactus root he ha<l just dug up close to my 



y. 



rhe animal, naturally enough, stopped dead. The 



t moment I was flying through space, and turning 

 complete somersault at least en routes landed on the 



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